Here's the feedback. The meal was a HUGE success. Appetizers: Jalapeno popper cheese, modified a bit cause I couldn't find canned diced jalapeno's so I used hot pickled ones. I made half the recipe, everyone had one or two crackers and a slice of bread and loved it. He brought the dip to the table and finished it all by himself. Main course: Salad with jicama, pear, mandarin oranges, avocado and baby bib and sweet lettuces. I made a quick vinaigrette that was delicious. Their kids ate bread while the adults and my kids had salad. Gumbo was delish!!! Everyone licked their bowls (figuratively of course) and went back for seconds. I made cspitells corn bread but baked it as muffins. Perfectly moist corn bread. I attribute that to fresh ground cornmeal which I ground from organic popcorn. I made 20 muffins. NONE left. He ate at least 6. Dessert: Chocolate chess pie. Well it was a good thing I made two even though I only did it because I misread the ingredients and put in a large can of evaporated milk instead of the 5oz called for. To correct that mistake I quickly doubled everything else, threw in an extra egg and grabbed another pastry shell out the freezer. They vanished. I mean he was sitting there licking crumbs off his fingers and the bottom of the pie plate :) I was exhausted by the time dinner was almost ready so didn't make the souffles. No-one except hubby missed them and he got them the next day :) The fruit salad went down well and was the only dish I had leftovers from. Everyone had a great time, tons of compliments on the food. For that reason alone, they can come back anytime :)

I like Lpinks idea of an antipasto. Everyone picks what they want and it is really easy to assemble. Here is a "do ahead" recipe that I make a lot for times like that.... Marinated Antipasto 3 large carrots, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices 2 large handfuls fresh green beans 2 cups broccoli florets 2 red bell peppers, roasted and cut into strips 2 yellow bell peppers, roasted and cut into strips a 12-ounce jar peperoncini drained well 3/4 pound black or green brine-cured olives or a ombination 3/4 pound marinated or plain bocconcini (small mozzarella balls, available at specialty foods shops and some supermarkets) 1/2 pound pepperoni or soppressata (hard Italian sausage, available at Italian markets, some butcher shops, and, some specialty foods shops), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and the slices quartered 2 7-ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained well 2 cans Hearts of Palm, cut into 1/2 inch lengths 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves plus, if desired, parsley sprigs for garnish Vinaigrette Dressing  about 2 cups, use your favorite recipe In a large saucepan of boiling water blanch the carrots for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender, drain them, and plunge them into a bowl of ice and cold water. Repeat for the Green Beans and Broccoli. Let the vegetables cool and drain them well. In a large bowl toss together the carrots, Green Beans, Broccoli, the roasted peppers, the peperoncini, the olives, the bocconcini, the pepperoni, the artichoke hearts, the Hearts of Palm, Vinaigrette dressing, the minced parsley until the antipasto is combined well and chill the antipasto, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight. Transfer the antipasto to a platter, garnish it with the parsley sprigs, and serve it at room temperature.

Email me directions I'm coming. Especially if you aren't roasting a pig, grin. I'd pick either a cabbage salad or the tossed salad - either with an Asian dressing. I don't think you need both. If you've found a recipe that works with canned salmon for the Lomi Lomi, you're OK, but I think it is started with fresh salmon, and marinated/salted overnight. I wouldn't reach for a canned salmon version but you know your family and your schedule best. Lose the corn in favor of rice or a rice salad. Yeah, I know its corn season. Hey you could chase down poi....he heh. I see lots of potato and macaroni salads on Hawaiian menus, FWIW. Serve a pineapple or coconut based dessert. Don't forget the macadamia nuts! If you are short-cutting with a box mix for the cupcakes, you could sub a tropical juice for the water. Here is a cabbage salad that has me drooling - I'm a sucker for Asian salads. SESAME CABBAGE SALAD 1 head cabbage chopped 1 bunch green onions chopped 1/2 cup chopped celery or peppers 3 packages Ramen chicken soup (dry soup pks) 1 bag frozen peas 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup cider vinegar 2 Tablespoon sugar 8oz chunk almonds, toasted 4 Tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted Mix cabbage, green onions, and celery. Break up dry Ramen noodles and toss in. Mix dressing of vinegar, oil, and soup mix. Toss dressing and toasted almonds and sesame seeds with salad mix. This yields a lot of salad and is best served same day. Serves 15-20 people.

Quick report. Meal was a big hit. But, after the day we'd had, so was bed. Ride started at Welches OR and ended at Government Camp OR, which is about 15 miles east along Hwy 26 if you are sensible, but instead we went in the other direction, north into the National Forest on logging roads, and proceeded to ride all the way around Mount Hood, a sort of clockwise circuit, and reach Government Camp from the opposite side. The 42 miles of twisting roads through the forest were gorgeous, with remarkable views, thankfully much shade, generally decent road surface, and we saw two cars in 8 hours. I enjoyed seeing Mount Hood from the back side, a view that not that many people see. But there was also no potable water, no cellphone coverage, several miles of gravel road, and what seemed like endless climbing. There were short steep descents but you couldn't really bomb down them, because the road did have the occasional monster hole or collapsed area, which might be hidden in a patch of deep shadow. And it was 102F up there, according to someone's fancy bike computer. I ran out of water about fifteen miles from the first civilization in Parkdale, got dehydrated, and despite drinking a ton of water and Gatorade at the little grocery store there, my thighs and calves started cramping up on the next stretch, which was a 10 mile climb to reach Hwy 35. I was in my very lowest gear, trying to turn the pedals with as little force as possible, feeling the muscles get tight. Sometimes I had charley horses that I had to pedal through. A couple times I had to get off the bike and sit down until my muscles stopped seizing up. We got to Hwy 35 with another 20 miles of climbing ahead. This is a pretty desolate two lane highway, with no cellphone coverage for most of the way and, on Saturday around 6 pm, maybe one car every 5 or 10 minutes. Several miles down the highway, one of our group had her rear tire blow out. Not the tube, but the tire casing itself. It had been sliced open on a gravel stretch, back in the forest. Our patch held for 50 miles but now the tire had a pencil sized hole worn in the casing, Mary Jean's bike was unrideable, and the sun was getting low. The other three rode ahead to find a cellphone signal and call AAA to retrieve her, and also call her husband to see if he was close enough to come get her. Rick had ferried our clothes and food to the condo that morning, then returned to Portland, due to return late that night. I stayed with Mary Jean, for entirely selfish motives - I figured that the AAA driver who picked her up would surely give me a ride too. With nothing to do, we tried patching the tire casing again, rode half a mile, blew out the re-patch, and started walking, wondering how many hours the others would have to ride to find cell coverage and how busy AAA was on a Saturday night and when the sun would set. It was getting dusk now. A pickup truck approached and slowed, the driver peered at us, and drove on. Several minutes later the truck returned from the other direction, and he was one of the local AAA drivers, off duty, looking for us on his way home. We arrived at the cabin right when our companions rode up. They had ridden to an area with a single cellphone "bar" about forty minutes after leaving us, spent another 15 minutes trying to explain the situation to AAA over a garbled connection, and the closest AAA truck on duty was busy in Sandy, over an hour away. We'd have been out there after dark. Our driver told us that the area where we had been walking was a sort of local Bermuda Triangle, populated with bear and cougar, where people disappeared mysteriously. Most recently, a father and his adult son, hiking, had never been seen again. The thing is, all the locals agree, a cougar wouldn't take on two adult men. So, as you can see, the dinner that night didn't have to be good to be good, if you see what I mean. But it was good too. No-one was awake enough for the swimming pool or hot tub. The next morning I left the others - they were staying in the condo all weekend - and rode the 15 miles down Hwy 26 to my car in Welches. That was a great descent, curvy two lane highway, all downhill, good pavement. Get in a low tuck and you can hit 60 mph on a road like that, in spots you can actually keep up with cars. I didn't, because I was carrying a bag of clothes over my shoulder. I was dehydrated for a day afterwards and my legs still feel heavy. I have a list of precautions to take if I ever ride in the backcountry again. And I made some new friends. So it was a nice day after all.